You could say that about most deals and list something nearly 10 times the price
colganraz
30 Apr 173#24
I remember the first industrial electrical course I went on and they showed a picture of someone who had used a cheapo meter to measure voltage in a 400v board.
It had burnt all his face where it had exploded. The guy running the course said only ever use a certified meter and no cheap crap.
I'm no expert on these things but from what I have been told i wouldn't risk it if that kind of thing can happen, not worth it for saving a few quid
ruc
29 Apr 173#13
I've used a cheap one on mains once and it was fine..showed me correct voltage too. don't know people commenting really have had any bad experience or just cannot trust quality for this price.
Latest comments (32)
Rys_Ochodzki
6 May 17#32
I'm looking for a good deal on 289 to upgrade from my 189...
Rys_Ochodzki
1 May 17#30
Cold as it is not a Fluke.
sej7278 to Rys_Ochodzki
2 May 17#31
back to eevblog with you! :wink: nearest to a "hot deal" you're likely to get on a fluke is a 15 or 17b/+ from china
matthat
30 Apr 17#20
great deal - I have been looking for one of these , just to test fuses and batterys etc. I asked for one for xmas and was given a really nice one (about £20's worth) but then I had to spend an extra £1 for a battery and on the first time testing a car battery I had it on the wrong setting and that was that - now it only comes on for AC and transistor checking!
anyway you need to get a battery with this - the cpc one used to come with one
Tyranicus66 to matthat
30 Apr 171#26
Replace the fuse....
sej7278 to matthat
1 May 171#29
you probably just need a new fuse. also batteries in the post is a thing of the past it seems, don't expect anything to come with one.
arachnoid
1 May 17#28
And you wont have to wait several weeks for delivery
Just to clarify as some people are confusing terms the IEE [Electrical] regulations have for several years defined 240volts mains power as low voltage.
These are great for working on the car of motorbike etc but Id be wary of using them on anything with mains voltage due to the possible poor quality of the conductor and its insulation on such "made to cost" items.
colganraz
30 Apr 173#24
I remember the first industrial electrical course I went on and they showed a picture of someone who had used a cheapo meter to measure voltage in a 400v board.
It had burnt all his face where it had exploded. The guy running the course said only ever use a certified meter and no cheap crap.
I'm no expert on these things but from what I have been told i wouldn't risk it if that kind of thing can happen, not worth it for saving a few quid
ruc
29 Apr 173#13
I've used a cheap one on mains once and it was fine..showed me correct voltage too. don't know people commenting really have had any bad experience or just cannot trust quality for this price.
paulpso to ruc
30 Apr 17#14
Yeah I don't get that. They work fine on both. I imagine people aren't changing over to the HV connector and blowing the regular one
Androcles to ruc
30 Apr 171#16
Maybe they are trying to measure the amperage of their mains supply.
118luke to ruc
30 Apr 17#18
I ran in front of a bus once travelling at 50 mph. Saved me waiting 3 seconds waiting for it to pass. Don't know why people try and justify waiting for a large gap in traffic.
OldEngine to ruc
30 Apr 17#23
I think it's probably because these aren't properly fused so if something did go wrong it could be bad. They are perfectly fine for smaller voltages though and should handle mains unless there is a problem within the unit or some sort of user error.
Bikerdanny
30 Apr 17#22
As others have said, perfectly fine on small battery stuff. But really wouldn't want to risk anything other than a quality fluke etc meter for live mains testing.
callum84
30 Apr 171#21
Alright for continuity and ELV. Fine for checking batteries,fuses etc but if you need any degree of accuracy you might want to spend some more.
Wouldn't use on low and certainly not high voltage. It's not that the unit might blow up, more insulation on leads/probes is questionable.
Hajoony
30 Apr 172#19
careful next time when you cross in front of rapidly moving vehicles. i don't think this multimeter will save you in these situations! :wink:
gazdoubleu
29 Apr 17#7
Amazing, price bet it costs more at Maplin for the test leads!
118luke to gazdoubleu
30 Apr 171#17
Big difference in quality of the test leads from Maplin to the ones that come with this. For a start, it's unlikely the Maplin ones would come apart when your testing mains.
Just noticed this one has a buzzer too! Great price!
OldEngine
29 Apr 17#11
I use one of these, it does the job perfectly well for low voltage applications no point spending loads of money. Don't use on mains though!
snoopy18
29 Apr 175#10
You could say that about most deals and list something nearly 10 times the price
sej7278
29 Apr 173#9
treat yourself and get a £20 vc99, still not guaranteed to not blow up when you put 1000v through it, but for hobby work its infinitely better than the crap in this thread
Perfectly fine for low voltage DC applications, I've had a similar yellow example for years and its been fine (only use it for battery stuff, voltage/charge monitoring etc)
woolymammoth8606
29 Apr 17#3
is it an American company being shipped from America? seems too cheap to be any good.
nougat to woolymammoth8606
29 Apr 171#5
No it is a Chinese company shipping from China. Where on earth did you see it was American Company?
lucyferror
29 Apr 17#4
Thanks :smiley:
robrydn
29 Apr 171#2
Great if the last thing to want to hear is a loud bang! Usually ok for low voltage stuff, arduino etc but do not ever use on mains!!! The result will shock you!!
Tyranicus66
29 Apr 171#1
Not something i would ever use. Get something properly fused and certified!
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you need to spend over a fiver for free delivery.
http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d03046/multimeter-digital/dp/IN07220
It had burnt all his face where it had exploded. The guy running the course said only ever use a certified meter and no cheap crap.
I'm no expert on these things but from what I have been told i wouldn't risk it if that kind of thing can happen, not worth it for saving a few quid
Latest comments (32)
anyway you need to get a battery with this - the cpc one used to come with one
you need to spend over a fiver for free delivery.
http://cpc.farnell.com/duratool/d03046/multimeter-digital/dp/IN07220
These are great for working on the car of motorbike etc but Id be wary of using them on anything with mains voltage due to the possible poor quality of the conductor and its insulation on such "made to cost" items.
It had burnt all his face where it had exploded. The guy running the course said only ever use a certified meter and no cheap crap.
I'm no expert on these things but from what I have been told i wouldn't risk it if that kind of thing can happen, not worth it for saving a few quid
Wouldn't use on low and certainly not high voltage. It's not that the unit might blow up, more insulation on leads/probes is questionable.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/VC99-Auto-Range-Digital-Multimeter-Ammeter-Voltmeter-Temperature-Tester-Unit-Symbol-61-Selection-Analog-Bar-Display/32802938227.html